No screening before new safety rules

January 2, 2013

NRA: Reactor screening to begin in July or later

      http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20130102_23.html

The head of Japan's nuclear watchdog says the screening of offline reactors cannot start until a new set of safety standards comes out in July. Only 2 of the nation's 50 reactors are currently online following the 2011 accident at Fukushima Daiichi.

Nuclear Regulation Authority chair Shunichi Tanaka spoke in an exclusive interview with NHK.

He stressed the authority cannot begin the process of examination on restarting the reactors unless new safety rules are made into law.

Last month, a team of experts from the NRA concluded that faults under 2 nuclear plants could be active. This may keep reactors at those facilities offline.
Referring to the team's conclusion, Tanaka said there is much less hesitation about making rulings based on science and objective facts. He added that until now, various other factors had been taken into consideration.